8 Actors You Won't Believe Voiced Famous Cartoon Characters

Did you know that Hulk Hogan didn't play himself in his terrible Rock 'n' Wrestling cartoon? That was actually the voice of Brad Garrett from Everybody Loves Raymond. We know, we were shocked, too. That's why we decided to go out and look for the most surprising voice acting credits ever. Did you know ...

#8. Vin Diesel Was The Iron Giant

You know him best as ...

Vin Diesel's impressive acting credits include playing tough guys who reluctantly save the universe, tough guys who reluctantly work as secret agents and tough guys who reluctantly drive cars. A devoted character actor, Diesel plays morally dubious antiheroes about as often as he plays bald, muscular men. Really, the only way this guy could do a movie aimed at kids would be if he played a tough guy who reluctantly babysits children and ... oh shit, that already exists, doesn't it?

But he was also ...

The Iron Giant, from the film of the same name. Before he even became famous, the guy from Fast Five voiced the title character in the timeless story of the friendship between a boy and a giant alien robot.

And it ... kind of looks like him.

Granted, his voice is pretty filtered and his lines are mostly grunts and monosyllables, but Diesel actually did a pretty good job here. Unsurprisingly, The Iron Giant is his highest rated IMDB credit after Saving Private Ryan, which doesn't even count because we're pretty sure he got killed in like the first 20 minutes. Anyway, here's some footage of Diesel recording the Giant's voice:

The Iron Giant's director, Brad Bird, went on to make Pixar's Ratatouille and The Incredibles -- but sadly he didn't cast Diesel in either of them.

#7. Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Was Shredder

You know him best as ...

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Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, played by James Avery, was known for being a strict man, but only in a sitcom would a "strict man" put up with all the shenanigans caused by Will Smith's character (played by an annoying wannabe rapper called "Will Smith"). Any real person would have sent Will back to Philadelphia (and certain death) after like two weeks. In truth, Uncle Phil was a kind, patient and understanding man who came to represent the father figure Will never had.

But he was also ...

The same actor also voiced Shredder from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon.

That's right, for over 100 episodes, the man best known for playing a dull, conservative judge/socialite also lent his voice to an Asian ninja master best known for living inside a giant mechanical eyeball and hanging out with a hideous man-hog and a disembodied brain. Also, for being a huge jerk. If you grew up in the 90s, this is the closest thing to finding out your grandpa and that bully from school were actually the same person all along.

Here's Avery talking about Shredder and the hidden levels of profundity within the character, plus openly admitting the interaction between him and Krang was played "like an old married couple."

If that's his idea of an old married couple, we're thinking things turned pretty bizarre in the Banks mansion after Will, Carlton and the girls left.

#6. Grandpa Huxtable Was a Thundercat

You know him best as ...

Between 1984 and 1992, Earle Hyman played Bill Cosby's father in The Cosby Show, despite being only 11 years older than the star (the conception could have been a touching flashback episode, right?). Grandpa Russell "Slide" Huxtable was a trombone player, a proud graduate of Hillman College and a really bad buyer of sweaters.

BAM!

But he was also ...

Panthro from the Thundercats. At the very same time he was playing Russell Huxtable, Earle Hyman was also moonlighting in animation as a humanoid warrior feline from outer space.

Panthro was the resident mechanic in the Thundercats and also the least clothed one after Snarf. We have no idea what it is with aging African-American male actors playing martial artists on cartoons in the 1980s, but this does raise an interesting question: Who would win in a nunchaku throwdown -- Uncle Phil or Grandpa Huxtable?

We will never be able to watch Panthro in action again without imagining Cosby's dad in the same situation:

Earle Hyman talked about voicing Panthro in this podcast (starting at around 19:00), and he says it was an easy job because he just pretended he was talking to his cats, which makes us think he probably misunderstood the plot of the series just a little bit.

#5. Fergie Was the Blonde Girl in Peanuts

You know her best as ...

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Stacy Ann Ferguson, aka Fergie, is best known for being in the Black Eyed Peas along with will.i.am and the other ... two, three guys? As one of the six members of the band, Fergie is partly responsible for the worst song in human history, some of the dumbest song lyrics ever and plagiarizing other people's music. In recent years, Fergie has done some film acting (Planet Terror, Nine) and voice acting work (Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Marmaduke), because apparently professional voice actors just aren't good enough for movies anymore.

But she was also ...

Sally Brown, Charlie Brown's little sister in Peanuts. Sally is remembered for her ill-fated one-way crush on Linus and for not being too bright.

Also for looking like Charlie Brown in drag.

Before you start complaining about Hollywood raping your childhood with all these goddamned celebrity-studded remakes, Fergie was the one of original Sallys. As Stacy Ferguson, she voiced the character in two classic Peanuts movies and The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show (where she also voiced Patty), starting when she was only 9. Here's what she sounded like back then:

And apparently she can still do that voice, which means that if they did a big-budget CGI Peanuts movie, casting Fergie would be a good decision for once.